Tight End Cole Kmet Goes Round One In Latest NFL.com Mock Draft

Notre Dame tight end Cole Kmet is a first-round pick according to the latest mock draft from NFL.com draft analyst Chad Reuter. Kmet is among five former Fighting Irish players to crack Reuter’s most recent four-round mock draft.

This is the second straight mock draft in which Reuter has pegged Kmet to the Jaguars in round one. The difference now is he has the Jaguars trading down with the Baltimore Ravens, moving from No. 20 to No. 28 but still taking the former Irish tight end. Here's what Reuter wrote about this pick:

“Jacksonville is lacking in their tight end depth chart, even after signing oft-injured veteran Tyler Eifert. Moving down the board a bit to pick the top prospect at the position makes sense.”

Eifert signed with the Jaguars earlier this week after spending the first seven years of his career with the Cincinnati Bengals. In this scenario, the Jaguars would have Kmet and Eifert forming a one-two punch, with the veteran former Notre Dame tight end mentoring the rookie from his alma mater.

The best player on the Notre Dame offense in 2019 was wide receiver Chase Claypool, who Reuter has slated to go in the second round (No. 60 overall) to the Baltimore Ravens. Of course, that would reunite former teammates Claypool and Miles Boykin, who was a third round pick of the Ravens a year ago.

He has the New Orleans Saints taking former Notre Dame end Julian Okwara in the third round with the No. 69 overall. This is an odd fit, as the Saints are a 4-3 defense with bigger ends. With this being a third-round selection my guess would be Reuter sees Okwara as being more of a situational package player that is used primarily as a pass rush specialist.

This is the same draft spot for Okwara compared to Reuter’s last mock draft, but now he has the Saints taking Okwara after making a trade with the Carolina Panthers.

Up next is cornerback Troy Pride Jr., who is also slated to go in the third round. Reuter has Pride being selected by the Oakland Raiders with the No. 81 overall pick. This is 13 spots lower than where Reuter had Pride in his last mock.

In an interesting note, the Raiders have not drafted a Notre Dame player since they selected Raghib “Rocket” Ismail in the fourth round of the 1991 draft. Ismail, of course, signed with the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL.

Reuter has the Atlanta Falcons taking defensive end Khalid Kareem in the fourth round with the No. 119 overall pick.

In his first mock draft, Reuter had safety Alohi Gilman going to the Cleveland Browns in the third round, but Gilman is not in his most current mock draft.